When to expect F31 details?

I know we're still 6-9 months away from the F31's US release. How soon before the release of a model are details typically available? At this point, we don't even know which engine we'll get, though I'm assuming it will be the 328i N20. Pricing would be nice to know too. May sound silly, but I need 12-24 months to plan for my next car.

I would look at the release of 2012 F30 ordering guides(Nov 1st, 2011) as a guideline since it was released in February 2012. Since BMW have said it will be a 2013 Q1 release for the F31, I would expect to have ordering guides available in November.

reidconti commented: July 3, 2012, 12:47 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Itgb

I would look at the release of 2012 F30 ordering guides(Nov 1st, 2011) as a guideline since it was released in February 2012. Since BMW have said it will be a 2013 Q1 release for the F31, I would expect to have ordering guides available in November.

Good thinking. Wish we didn't have to wait that long, I'm really curious!

tim330i commented: July 6, 2012, 10:15 am

BMW released more information about the F31 3 series wagon. Still waiting on the US details but it does give you a good idea of what to expect for equipment options -

Will have to instead consider Audi and BMW models on the used market. It'll cost half the price that way anyway I hate to see BMW of all manufacturers moving in this direction.

tim330i commented: July 6, 2012, 11:38 am

Remember this isn't the US details. It is a long shot but BMW does give us a manual option on the M5/M6 when it isn't offered anywhere else. Perhaps they'll do the same for the wagon.

Tim

reidconti commented: July 6, 2012, 11:44 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by tim330i

Remember this isn't the US details. It is a long shot but BMW does give us a manual option on the M5/M6 when it isn't offered anywhere else. Perhaps they'll do the same for the wagon.

I thought it was the US details, given that this is the first time they've announced that they're bringing it to the US, the launch date, and told us which options it will have (N20, xDrive, etc)

For the non-US market, all of this information has already been known, as well as the availability of a 330d in non-US markets.

Why would BMW make a redundant press release, a month or more later, talking about the US launch, and leaving out the vehicles that are sold in Europe?

I don't follow BMW press releases much, so you definitely know a lot more than I do about how they handle their PR.. but to this novice, it looked like the official US announcement. Thanks for any insight into the process.

OBS3SSION commented: July 6, 2012, 11:58 am

Yeah, the fact that this press release is from the NJ office, I thought it was US-specific information.

tim330i commented: July 6, 2012, 11:58 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by reidconti

I thought it was the US details, given that this is the first time they've announced that they're bringing it to the US, the launch date, and told us which options it will have (N20, xDrive, etc)

For the non-US market, all of this information has already been known, as well as the availability of a 330d in non-US markets.

Why would BMW make a redundant press release, a month or more later, talking about the US launch, and leaving out the vehicles that are sold in Europe?

I don't follow BMW press releases much, so you definitely know a lot more than I do about how they handle their PR.. but to this novice, it looked like the official US announcement. Thanks for any insight into the process.

This isn't the first time. BMW confirmed the F31 3 Series Wagon was coming to the US in the spring of 2013 a few months ago -

This is what BMW does, they roll out a first round press release with the general details, then another one with more info, and then there will be another one with US specs, ordering, etc. The details can also change before then. We're 9+ months away, plenty of time for them to change the options, details, etc.

Also keep in mind that when the car goes on sale in the spring it will be a 2013 MY which will only run until July, so the MY 2013s might not have the options you want but they can, and probably will switch things around for MY 2014 as they did with the MY 2012 and MY 2013 F30 3 series sedan.

Tim

tim330i commented: July 6, 2012, 12:03 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by OBS3SSION

Yeah, the fact that this press release is from the NJ office, I thought it was US-specific information.

Both came from NJ. BMW NA keeps us updated on all things BMW, not just US spec stuff.